In the Hour of Trial

Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1834; published in 1853) by James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) (1923), Moravian Church in America

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In the hour of trial,

Jesus, plead for me;

Lest by base denial

I depart from Thee;

When Thou see’st me waver,

With a look recall,

Nor for fear or favor

Suffer me to fall.

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With forbidden pleasures

Would this vain world charm;

Or its sordid treasures

Spread to work me harm;

Bring to my remembrance

Sad Gethsemane,t

Cross-crowned Calvary.

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Should Thy mercy sent me

Sorrow, toil, and woe;

Or should pain attend me

On my path below;

Grant that I may never

Fail Thy hand to see;

Grant that I may ever

Cast my care on Thee.

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When my last hour cometh,

Fraught with strife and pain,

When my dust returneth

To the dust again;

On Thy truth relying

Through that mortal strife,

Jesus, take me, dying,

To eternal life.